


Crash and Burn

by SlimeQueen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Banter, Humor, Johnny as Batman, Kissing, M/M, OT7 Dreamies uwu, Team as Family, teen titans au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-06-20 09:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15531702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlimeQueen/pseuds/SlimeQueen
Summary: Mark Lee has a lot on his plate trying to balance his life as Robin with his duties as leader of the Teen Titans. Suddenly being put in charge of an alien with a penchant for setting things on fire makes everything that much harder.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okAY i have no steam for this story so honestly idk if ill write more soon... but im leaving it incomplete because ill probably come back to it when i don't have university looming over my head lol   
> Please don't repost my fics anywhere without my permission!

Mark’s not so good at the whole _“hide your secret identity”_ thing yet.

Johnny- _Batman_ , he corrects himself quickly, because one never knows when there’s a telepath nearby, keeps warning him to stop swinging around so much when he’s in his civvies, but Mark can’t help himself. So what if that weird Daniel kid from his calculus class saw him swinging from a streetlight once? He can always blame it on his late parents being acrobats.

Anyways, so Mark’s getting an earful from Batman down the little receiver hooked into his ear right beneath his cartilage piercing about _being more responsible, Mark, you’re going to get yourself into danger_ , when he spots something in the sky. A shooting star, he writes off at first, but then the little fleck of color moves quicker and quicker, increasing in size. And flames. Many flames.

So much for a peaceful night.

Mark watches whatever the thing is shoot across the night sky, over the skyscrapers of Gotham, nearly crashing into Seo Tower, which Johnny wouldn’t be very happy about, so he thanks his stars-haha, pun intended- that it doesn’t hit the massive building and makes impact with a little alleyway in the seedier side of Gotham, a couple blocks from Mark’s perch on a rooftop. The crash makes everything rock slightly, and he hears a couple people shout down on the streets about an earthquake.

Mark curses under his breath. Leaping over a couple rooftops and using his grappling gun to swing through some streets, he finds himself above the site of the disaster.

The smoke’s too thick for him to be seeing much, but he leans over the ledge of the building as far as he can, peering into the dark.

“Uh, Bats,” he says into the com device, “I think we have a…situation.”

Johnny’s strained voice comes over the com. “A little busy here, Robin,” There’s a pained yelp as Mark assumes Johnny’s caught a punch with his stomach, and then a familiar ringing laugh. Catman, also known as Ten, also known as Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, also known as the reason Mark insists on soundproofing his room at Seo manor. The only thing he likes better than stealing jewels is Johnny’s dick, much to Mark’s absolute horror.

Abandoning any hope of Johnny’s help, he swings off the rooftop and into the smoke, praying that it’s not some kind of ambush. Thankfully, the smoke’s beginning to clear a little, and when Mark lands on the pavement, he can make out, among the smoldering rubble, a figure.

A very naked, very bronzy, very glowing figure.

Mark’s dealt with aliens before, but this one takes him by surprise. He just looks like… a boy Mark’s own age. Albeit glowing, and with bright green eyes when he opens them, no pupils or whites, but a boy nonetheless.

Mark realizes the reason there’s so much smoke isn’t just the crash. The alien boy’s tanned skin is burning, tiny wisps of smoke rising from his bare shoulders, his hair flickering burnished orange like a flame.

Mark’s on guard, every corded, trained muscle in his body tense, but he drops out of his fighting stance. “Hi,” he says hesitantly, “Are you alright?”

The boy blinks. He opens his mouth and says something Mark couldn’t repeat if he tried. Probably wouldn’t even be physically capable of mimicking.

Abruptly, the boy surges forward, and Mark’s body acts on instinct, trying to move back, but the guy’s got unanticipated superhuman strength, and he’s in front of Mark in a second.

Kissing him.

Mark’s mind is always organized and calm when he has the suit on. _Always_. It’s the one thing he prides himself in, but as soon as the boy’s warm lips are closed over his own, Mark’s entire brain falls into chaos, a strange shock of heat running up his spine, making his knees weak and his stomach churn.

He’s really sweet about it too, his lips all soft against Mark’s. hands gripping his shoulders lightly, then down his cape to hold onto the fabric.

And then it’s over. The boy pulls back, licks his lips, and says without a shred of shame, “What planet am I on?”

Mark thinks he needs some backup.

-

Exactly twenty minutes later, the alien (Koriand’r, he’d insisted. _Lee Donghyuck_ , Johnny says firmly, deciding on a random alias) is sitting at the kitchen table of Seo manor clad in a pair of Mark’s sweatpants that threaten to slip off his slender hips and an old shirt with _Gotham Academy printed_ across the front.

“These are unnecessary,” he’d said when Mark had tried handing them to him. “My people do not restrain ourselves with fabric like this.”

“My people don’t walk around with their-“

“ _Robin_.”

Mark had tossed Johnny a semi-apologetic look for that one, but he’d shoved the clothes into Donghyuck’s lap anyways with a firm, “Get dressed. Earth rules.”

“Who are you and why are you here?” Johnny asks when Donghyuck’s sitting at the table with a glass of water in front of him. “Especially without a ship and with no way of going back?”

Donghyuck bites his lip, and his dark cheeks flush a shade warmer. “I am the second Tamaranean prince,” he says, “And I’ve been exiled from my planet to live here like a peasant. A commoner. A bottom feeding, lowlife-“

“Okay,” Mark cuts in, annoyed. “But why did you have to kiss me?”

Johnny’s eyebrows shoot up at that. He’d omitted that tiny detail in his report.

“To learn your language,” Donghyuck blinks, “Why else?” Right. Alien species.

Mark shakes his head, pulling out a chair at the table and sitting in it. “What are we going to do with him?” This is directed at Johnny, who’s begun pacing. Mark notices that he hasn’t bothered to take off the batsuit or the cowl.

“More importantly, why haven’t we shown him some hospitality?”

Mark and Johnny turn automatically to the source of the voice. Taeil’s leaning against the doorway of the kitchen and fixing them both with his very best _disappointed old man_ look. They both shudder a little under the weight of the gaze.

Taeil had been Johnny’s only confidant until Mark had come along. Most of the time, he’s in the chair down in the Cave when Mark and Johnny are out on patrol, or in the kitchen fiddling around with the oven.

Taeil brushes past Johnny to get to Donghyuck, stopping to tug off the cowl in the process. Johnny makes a noise in protest, but Taeil says, “As if they know or care who _Batman_ is on Tamaran.”

Johnny runs a hair through his hair to push it off his forehead and slumps down into a chair as well.

Mark’s never going to get tired of how young Johnny looks under the batsuit. He’s only in his mid-twenties, after all, no matter how much he wants to act like an angst-riddled old man. To the public, Batman and Robin have a father-son relationship. In truth, Johnny’s more like a cool, occasionally overprotective older brother.

He looks at Mark, sighs long and deep, and Mark gets an instant bad feeling in his stomach. “I have an idea on what to do with him. But you’re not going to like it.”

-

Mark loves being a Titan. Being part of the dynamic duo’s cool and all, and he loves Johnny to pieces, but _the Titans_.

Shadowy, sweet Renjun, clever Jisung, Jeno and Jaemin who stick together like dark and light, and Chenle, who can not keep his mouth shut for a _second_ besides when he’s doing magic tricks, either to amuse them or catch bad guys. Gotham’s always going to be his physical home, but the Titans are _Home_. Where he belongs.

Away from Johnny’s overbearing nature and Taeil’s lectures about being careful, Mark’s the leader of his own team, and its mind blowing, adrenaline pumping, wind-through-your-hair freedom. It’s the feeling of being on a trapeze, swinging so hard through the air that it feels like he’s flying.

He doesn’t know what he’s expecting, bringing Donghyuck here. According to Johnny, being with other young powered teens is the best way to assimilate him to Earth with minimum risk. So, a week after Donghyuck had crash landed in Gotham, Mark takes him to Titans Tower to introduce him to the rest of the team.

Donghyuck grumbles the whole trip, “Why can’t I just fly there? I hate being cooped up in ships for too long.”

Mark knows better than to let him out of his sight by now. Back at Gotham, they’d left three star-blasted billboards and the burnt remains of a tree from Donghyuck showing them the extent of his powers.

 “ _Mark_ ,” Donghyuck whines, eyes glowing bright green.

Without looking up from the control panel of the jet, Mark says, “No star-bolts in close quarters unless it’s a training room.”

“Why can’t I fly? I’m not a kid.” The tips of his bright hair are beginning to smoke wispily, and Mark knows that’s a bad sign.

“You can see the tower,” he points out hastily, “See? We’re already here.”

He only lets out a breath when Donghyuck crosses his arms in front of his chest and settles back into the chair.

Landing the jet on the strip on the roof, Mark stands up and stretches out his stiff limbs. Donghyuck’s already floating towards the door, but Mark calls out, “Hey,” and makes him turn.

“What?”

Mark shifts a little on his feet. He strips off the mask from over his eyes, shoving it in the pocket of his jacket. Donghyuck is still floating by the door, arms still crossed stubbornly over his chest.

“These guys are my friends.” He finally says, chewing at the inside of his mouth. “I know you can be a little…abrasive sometimes, but try and play nice while you’re on the team, okay? Just be normal.”

Donghyuck squints, glowing green eyes dimming slowly until they’re warm brown. “Is this normal enough for you?” he asks coolly.

“That’s not what I meant.” Mark counters. “No one cares what you look like. Jaemin’s green half the time anyways, and Jeno’s got metal parts for bones. It’s fine if you glow a little, but I need you to be part of the team. You’re not working by yourself anymore. We work together, okay?”

For a minute, Donghyuck just stares at him, eyes smoldering along with his hair. Then, he says tightly, “Fine.” He spins towards the door again, flying out of it.

Mark sighs, wondering how he’d let Johnny convince him this would be a good idea. After a second, he follows.

-

Mark finds Jeno and Jaemin in the common room in front of the TV, video game controllers in hand.

“I’m home,” he greets them, dropping the bag with his suit in it on the couch.

“How was Gotham?” Jeno asks, eyes still glued to the screen.

“And who is _that_?” Jaemin demands, turning to face Donghyuck, who’s floating steadily higher and higher up to the ceiling.

Before he can get too high up, Mark grabs his ankle and pulls him down hard. Donghyuck pouts, letting Mark hold him like the world’s angriest balloon. He says haughtily, “I am Koriand’r, second prin-“

“This is Donghyuck. He flies and glows. He’s part of the team now.” Mark deadpans.

“I could blast you to pieces where you stand, Mark Lee,” Donghyuck hisses.

“I’d like to see you try.”

Jaemin blinks, glancing between the two of them. “Cool,” he says at last, “Do they have Mario 64 on your planet?”

-

Jisung and Chenle get home from school sometime after Mark quits and throws down his controller. Despite not even understanding what video games really even are, Donghyuck’s reflexes are scary good, and he and Jeno have managed to beat Mark and Jaemin for the sixth time in a row.

“There’s a glowing guy eating all our food,” Chenle observes, dropping his backpack by the door. Jisung rushes into the room and nearly runs into Mark, only avoids it because his instincts are as fast as his speed. “Should we be concerned?”

While Mark is convincing Donghyuck not to eat a whole jar of pickles, Jaemin fills them in, and Renjun too, when he drifts quietly into the room.

“So what do you _really_ do?” Chenle asks, practically bouncing up and down in excitement. “Besides fly and glow?”

Donghyuck screws up his face in thought. “I am stronger than humans,” he says slowly, “And I can project energy from my hands and eyes.”

“Energy,” Mark says, “As in _zap_.” He mimics setting flames erupting, wiggling his fingers.

“You are just angry that you do not have any abilities besides dressing up in _tights_.” Donghyuck snipes.

Mark flushes hotly while his teammates laugh at him, and then says firmly, “ _Anyways_. Welcome to the Titans, where we’re all supportive of each other’s costume choices and abilities.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Donghyuck says slowly, glancing at all of them, “Just to make sure I’ve actually absorbed all the information thrown at me. Renjun can manipulate shadows and dimensions, Jeno’s made half of metal, Jaemin can shapeshift into any animal, Chenle can do magic, and Jisung’s really fast. And Mark can’t do anything besides make wearing a cape and tights somehow work for him.”

Jaemin bursts into giggles again. “You’re exactly right.”

Donghyuck says, “Who’s running this shitshow, then? Do we have a great and formidable leader?”

Mark crosses his arms, annoyed and unimpressed. Donghyuck follows everyone’s eyes to him, the snark melting off his face. Mark smirks. “That would be me.”

Donghyuck drops out of the air in surprise.


	2. Chapter 2

There are tons of things that make a team good, but the most important is always _teamwork_.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the thing that Donghyuck lacks the most.

He likes rushing head on into situations, eyes flowing eerie green, fingers twitching with electric star bolts, before Mark even gives them orders.

Sure, Mark winds up bruised and on the floor at the end of every practice session no matter how agile he is and how much he tries to figure out Donghyuck’s weakness, but he chalks that up to Donghyuck being an alien and having super strength. In the field, it’s always Donghyuck who comes back to the tower with scraped up knees and elbows and sparks flying off his fingers in anger.

“Dude,” Jisung says to Mark once Donghyuck’s stormed off after a particularly rough mission about two weeks into his time with the Titans, “You need to go talk to him. You’re the leader, aren’t you?”

Mark unbuckles his tool belt as slowly as possible until Jisung starts running impatient circles around him, a blur of yellow and orange. “Come on,” he whines, “You need to take care of it. He’s messing up everyone’s rhythm.”

“He’s not messing up my rhythm,” Renjun says coolly, floating towards the door back into the tower.

“No one could mess up your rhythm,” Jaemin chimes in, stripping out of his leotard with no shame. He leaves it pooled on the floor and strides towards the door after him, ass naked.

“Gross,” Renjun replies, and melts into the shadows right before Jaemin makes contact.

Mark sighs. He’s gotten used to the chaos of living with five other supers, but the addition of the sixth is making things difficult. Not to mention that every time he looks at Donghyuck he can feel the ghost of the kiss they’d shared on his lips and he flushes all the way to his ears.

“I’ll talk to him,” he promises Jisung, holding his hands up in surrender.

-

Finding Donghyuck isn’t much of a challenge. All Mark has to do is follow the sound of cement exploding as Donghyuck hurls star bolts at the railing that surrounds the perimeter of the roof.

His eyes are glowing bright green again, hair aflame, and Mark can practically _feel_ the heat coming off him. He swallows the fear that jumps in his throat and takes a step forward, sidestepping some of the busted cement of the roof.

He clears his throat softly, knows that Donghyuck will hear it with his superhuman senses.

The other boy freezes midair, radioactive eyes locking with Mark’s. There’s rage in those eyes, and an underlying frustration Mark understands all too well.

Mark holds his hand up in faux-surrender. “Don’t stop on account of me,” he says, “Please, continue destroying the roof.”

Donghyuck’s chest is heaving, eyes bright with anger, but slowly, he sinks back towards the roof. The second he lands, he crumples onto the ground, legs folding neatly under him. “I will find a way to fix it.”

“No, you won’t,” Mark says easily, crossing his arms over his chest. “But don’t worry, Batman comes through when it comes to that stuff.”

Donghyuck scowls at him. “You’re an asshole.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Mark agrees, but then he steps forward, over the wreckage, and joins him on the cement-dust covered floor. “Do you want to talk about it?’

Donghyuck idly traces a finger over a cut on his forearm. It’s already beginning to scab over, healing being another one of his heightened abilities. He swallows, looking anywhere but Mark’s face. “On my planet, we are taught to be self-efficient. Working together as a _team_ is rare. Why should I be held back by others when I could easily defeat an enemy on my own?”

Mark, who hadn’t been expecting such a straightforward and sensical answer, spends a second in silence trying to figure out how to reply to that.

Thankfully, Donghyuck continues on, “I have never had to worry about watching out for others. I haven’t had to wonder if my starbolts are hitting my teammates.”

Mark started this whole thing with Johnny. He has no idea what it feels like to have to do everything alone.

“You don’t have to do everything by yourself,” he says gently, bumping his shoulder against the other boy’s, “The benefit to working on a team is that you don’t have to worry as much. They have your back, Hyuck. You don’t have to watch out for them all the time. They can protect themselves.”

“I don’t want to hurt them,” Donghyuck says softly, “They’ve been nothing but kind to me in my time here.”

This, Mark understands wholeheartedly. “You won’t,” he says immediately, “They’re strong kids. They may not have been raised as warriors like you have, but they can hold their own.”

Donghyuck gets a strange expression on his face, and it takes Mark a second to register it as tenderness. It’s an expression he hasn’t seen on the alien before. Very quietly, he says, “Earth isn’t so bad.”

 “Don’t tell anyone I said that, though,” he adds a second later, jokingly, a smile quirking on his mouth.

“It’s our secret,” Mark replies immediately, a smile of his own curving on his face before he can help it. Donghyuck’s grin is infectious, bright and beautiful like the sun.

In the orange glow of dusk, Donghyuck’s tanned skin looks even more golden and ethereal, his long lashes dark and glossy, his hair as bright as a flame. Mark catches himself staring, memorizing the full curve of his lower lip, the straight line of his nose, and forces himself to look away. The memory of the kiss they’d shared comes to mind very suddenly. Mark feels his cheeks go warm, tries very hard to think about anything else. Like the fact that Johnny’s not going to be happy when he gives him the bill for fixing the broken roof guardrail.

They stay on the roof until the sun sets completely, and then, shoulders brushing in a way that should be casual but feels anything but, they walk back into the tower together.

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/_johnten)


End file.
